FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Boston Red Sox clubhouse had a decidedly different buzz on Thursday morning, hours after the team had agreed to a three-year, $120 million deal with All-Star infielder Alex Bregman.
All winter, the Red Sox had sought right-handed balance for their lineup and a way to strengthen their infield defense. The signing of Bregman accomplishes both. Manager Alex Cora couldn’t comment much on the deal because it hadn’t yet been made official and was pending a physical. Cora even had to catch himself when making an initial comment, but offered high praise for Bregman nonetheless.
“He’s a kid that you guys will see — d—, that you’ve seen before, sorry,” Cora said mindful of MLB’s rules about discussing free agents. “You guys have talked to him, and he’s very similar to Dustin (Pedroia) as far as, like the baseball rat that he is, so we’ll see what happens.”
Bregman’s future teammates, however, didn’t hold back on what it means to add him to the mix.
Right-hander Walker Buehler, in particular, knows Bregman well. The two are close friends and co-own a racehorse, but have never played on the same team before now.
“Ever since I’ve seen him play, he’s been one of the better players on the field, starting at (Louisiana State University) as a freshman,” Buehler said. “He’s continued that over (his career). A very confident player, a guy I think will handle Boston well, hopefully. Has played really well at Fenway. I’m excited about it.”
Bregman is a two-time World Champion. (Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
Bregman, who turns 31 in March, is coming off a down year offensively in Houston where he hit .260 with a .768 OPS in 145 games. Despite the below-average season at the plate, Bregman owns a career .375 average and 1.240 OPS in 98 plate appearances at Fenway and figures to use the Green Monster in left to his advantage.
Like Bregman, Buehler has won two World Series and believes bringing that playoff experience and championship mentality to Boston is important.
“I think the more you can kind of go through these experiences and play in the playoffs and play in big games, it carries over,” he said. “And I think both of us, over the past six, seven, eight years, have kind of gotten to experience that and are looking forward to doing that here.”
Aside from his on-field play, Bregman’s fiery attitude and competitiveness are expected to bring a different element to the clubhouse. Jarren Duran is eager to see how Bregman impacts the clubhouse.
“I heard the news, I’m excited,” Duran said. “He’s a great player, and I know he’s a winner. And I love to have that kind of mentality on the team.
“I’m excited to have another guy like that in the clubhouse. I feel like he just kind of plays the game hard, plays the game right. And just is going to be a good leader for us. That’s what I’m excited about.”
Though Bregman has played third base most of his professional career and won a Gold Glove at the spot last year, he’s said he’s open to moving to second base. The Red Sox have not said where he will play yet.
Third baseman Rafael Devers, who’d been in camp before returning home for a few days to see family, arrived back in Fort Myers on Thursday. Cora said he’d spoken with Devers but wouldn’t reveal much of their conversation.
“We talked, he’s doing OK,” Cora said. “He’s healthy, doing his thing. Showed up early (on Thursday), worked out with (the team trainer), hit in the cage, and did his defensive work and then he went home.”
If Bregman takes over second base instead of third, the Red Sox will have decisions to make about Vaughn Grissom and Kristian Campbell, who’d previously been vying for the spot.
At first Grissom suggested nothing changes for him this spring, in terms of his approach to winning a spot, noting he added close to 20 pounds this offseason in an attempt to stay healthier and stronger throughout the year. While he’s mostly played second base in his career, he said he wants to become as versatile as possible. In addition to experience at shortstop, he said he’s open to working at first base or in the outfield.
“I’m just trying to be the best ballplayer I can be and help the team win,” he said. “However I can and whatever role that may be, you never know what can happen.”
Grissom is coming off an injury-riddled first year in Boston and did later admit that Bregman’s addition further drives him to prove he’s a big leaguer.
“I would say it motivates me for sure,” he said. “Obviously I would like to share the field with him, too. I would be selfish to get upset because you never know. You never know how the season starts differently than it ends. There’s a lot of moving pieces … but yeah, it motivates me. I feel ready to go and I can’t wait to meet him honestly.”
Adding a Gold Glove winner to the infield mix is something left-hander Garrett Crochet said will add an extra level of comfort when he’s on the mound.
“The goals are the same, maybe the expectations change a little bit, but we couldn’t be more fired up to have him joining us here,” Crochet said.
“This is one of the best divisions in baseball and you have to have a solid team to be able to tread water and I think we’re doing more than treading now with this acquisition.”
Duran happy with contract situation
Duran was among the early arrivals among the position players, who don’t have to officially be in camp until Monday. He met with the media after Thursday’s workouts, reflected on last season’s success and what he’s hoping for in 2025. But he also cleared the air about his contract situation.
Duran was arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason. At the filing deadline, Duran’s agent and the Red Sox could not come to an agreement, falling $500,000 short of an agreement, and were in jeopardy of heading to an arbitration trial, which is a notoriously contentious process. A few days later, however, Duran signed a $3.85 million guarantee for 2025 with an escalating club option for 2026.
“I think it was fine, it was all good,” he said of the negotiations. “Talked to (Craig Breslow) all the time. And everything was really smooth. There’s no bad dance or anything like that. I thought it went really good, actually.”
Duran said he’s avoided social media much of the offseason and wasn’t aware of the fan base’s frustration on his behalf during the initial disagreement between his agent and the team.
“It’s always good when you can get it resolved on both sides and both sides were in a great agreement so I’m happy with what we got,” he said.
As for 2025, Duran said he’s happy that he’s coming to camp fully healthy. Last season, he was coming off toe surgery that ended his 2023 season early. The surgery cut into his offseason preparation and he wasn’t able to build up as much leg strength as he would have liked, making his 2024 All-Star campaign all the more impressive. While he’d like to try to play 162 games this season, he said Cora might have other plans.
“AC is like we’ll probably give you a little more rest this year, but I know I can talk to him into letting me play 162, so we’ll see what he does,” Duran quipped.
The Red Sox have discussed Ceddanne Rafaela taking a majority of his reps in center field, where Duran played 105 games last season. Duran said he has no qualms about moving to left field, where he logged 83 games last year.
“I’m fine with left, I’ll move over for anybody as long as we get the best players that are out there for us,” he said. “I’m more than comfortable moving over there for Ceddanne to win a Gold Glove in center field.”
Crochet throws live BP
Crochet threw about 25 pitches in a live batting practice session on the field at JetBlue Park on Thursday and came out strong, pumping 97-98 mph while mixing in off-speed stuff. Several players, coaches and front office executives were on hand to watch. Cora came away impressed.
“The velocity, the stuff plays,” Cora said. “One of the things he was a little upset today was that he didn’t throw too many first-pitch strikes but he came back in the count and he got some swings and misses. We talked about it today, if you look around the league velocity is important, swing and miss is important. We talk about how we can improve the defense, well, swing and miss is something we have to be better at. More punch outs. I think with him that’s the start of it. But there are other guys stuff-wise they are trending up and they have great stuff.”
Several pitchers have already thrown live BPs at the early part of camp. Josh Winckowski and Richard Fitts also threw to hitters on Thursday.
Look out for Garrett Whitlock
Asked for any early impressions or players who have stood out to him over the first few days in camp, Cora was quick to answer.
“Whitlock,” he said. “The other day, the way he threw the ball was very similar to who he was in ‘21 with more velo. Physically, you see him, he’s a lot different. Leaner, stronger, and the stuff two days ago (in live BP), I think it was eye-opening. I know he’s been in the big leagues, he’s been hurt, but I truly believe that we have to keep an eye on him because if he keeps going this way, he’s gonna have a great season.”
(Top photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
